Promoting physical activity

Should physical activity be promoted to workers? It depends…

Summary:

Promoting health and wellbeing at work is part of modern occupational health, but what does that mean in practice? The occupational epidemiologist Aviroop Biswas explains why it is important to understand the drivers and barriers to physical activity among the workforce.

The health benefits of regular physical activity are well documented. Numerous studies, conducted in men and women, in different ethnic groups, and in broad social and age groups, have demonstrated the positive effects of exercise for the promotion and maintenance of good health, quality of life, and longevity. In its ethics guidance for occupational health (OH) practice, the Faculty of Occupational Medicine makes clear that the promotion of health and wellbeing is a vital part of the OH practitioner’s role¹. ‘Some occupational health professionals still focus only on the narrower issues of hazardous exposures and individual capability, thereby potentially neglecting their wider duty to protect health and promote the wellbeing of people of working age,’ it states…

 

Dr Aviroop Biswas is an associate scientist at the Institute for Work & Health, Toronto, Canada. He is also assistant professor in epidemiology at the University of Toronto’s Dalla Lana School of Public Health.

 

Author: Biswas, A

Tags health promotion health work and wellbeing physical activity

Occupational Health at Work June/July 2023 (vol. 20/1) pp25-28

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